Glauco

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Glauco vs Lens

Lens, from Mirantis, calls itself the number one IDE for Kubernetes, and is free to download for macOS, Windows and Linux.[1] Glauco is a desktop Kubernetes client for macOS, Windows and Linux that is read-first: it lets you browse and watch everything, and asks before every change. This page compares the two, with a source for every fact about Lens.

At a glance

PriceGlauco:A 14-day trial with every feature, for any use. Then free mode: one cluster, read-only, for personal, non-commercial use. Personal €29 or $29 a year. Team €39 or $39 per seat a year, minimum 3 seats. Enterprise on request.Lens:Personal is free, except for organizations with over $10 million in annual revenue or funding. Plus: $25 a month billed yearly ($300), or $30 monthly. Pro: $25 per seat a month billed yearly. Enterprise: $50 per seat a month billed yearly.[2]
PlatformsGlauco:macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel. Windows 10 or later on x64. Linux on x64, as .deb and .rpm. Updates are automatic on macOS and Windows, and come through apt and dnf on Linux.Lens:macOS 13 or later (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows 10 22H2 or later, and Linux on x86_64 (Ubuntu 22.04, Fedora 41, RHEL 9, CentOS Stream 9).[3],[4],[5]
Account or loginGlauco:No account. The trial and free mode need no key; a paid license is a key plus the seat's email.Lens:A Lens ID is needed to activate Lens, also for use in air-gapped environments. Offline activation is for Lens Enterprise subscribers.[6],[7]
TelemetryGlauco:None. Glauco contacts us only to check your license and for updates. Cluster data and credentials never leave your machine.Lens:Lens collects telemetry. In-app surveys, telemetry and usage tracking, and automatic error reports can each be turned off in Preferences.[8]
Open sourceGlauco:NoLens:No. The open-source version was retired; its legacy code is still in the lensapp/lens repository, which has had no release since January 2024.[9],[10]
LicenceGlauco:Proprietary (Glauco terms)Lens:Commercial subscription for the app. The legacy repository is MIT.[2],[9]
Read-only by defaultGlauco:Read-first: every change asks first, and confirmation dialogs focus Cancel. Free mode is read-only.Lens:Not documented.

Where Lens is ahead

  • A free Personal plan for students, hobbyists and engineers at small organizations: work use is free unless your organization has over $10 million in annual revenue or funding. Glauco's free mode is for personal, non-commercial use.[2]
  • Cluster-wide CPU and memory history from Prometheus, from one hour to two months. Glauco's Metrics tab also reads Prometheus, for Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets and DaemonSets over 15 minutes to 30 days, with no node or cluster charts yet.[11],[12]
  • Helm chart install and upgrade, with Helm repositories and OCI registries. Glauco does Helm release history, rollback and uninstall, not install or upgrade.[13]
  • A node shell, next to cordon and drain.[14]
  • Built-in views for more resource kinds, such as service accounts, roles and role bindings, HorizontalPodAutoscalers, PersistentVolumes and NetworkPolicies.[15],[16],[17],[18]
  • Team features on Pro and Enterprise: Teamwork with team spaces and remote access to clusters. Enterprise adds SAML and OIDC single sign-on and SCIM.[2],[19]
  • Offline activation for air-gapped environments, on Lens Enterprise.[7]
  • An extension marketplace, published through npm. Extensions are a premium feature.[2],[20]
  • A side-by-side diff in the editor that shows what you changed before you save. It is part of the premium Advanced editor.[21]
  • AI features from the Plus plan up: Ask AI and a built-in MCP server.[2]

Where Glauco is different

  • Glauco costs the same for a person at any company size: €29 or $29 a year.
  • No account and no sign-up. You download the app and connect to your clusters.
  • No telemetry. Nothing about your clusters, contexts or credentials leaves your machine.
  • Every change asks first: edit, apply, delete, scale, restart, cordon, drain, Helm rollback and uninstall. Confirmation dialogs focus Cancel and show destructive actions in red.
  • Your kubeconfig stays read-only: Glauco never writes to ~/.kube/config.
  • Reading Helm releases needs no helm binary: they come straight from their Secrets. Rollback and uninstall use the helm CLI on your PATH.

When to choose Lens instead

  • You want a free tool for work, your organization is small enough for the free Personal plan, and you are fine with a Lens ID.[2],[6]
  • You need single sign-on, SCIM, Teamwork or extensions across a team.[2]
  • You install and upgrade Helm charts from the client, or want cluster-wide Prometheus history in it.[12],[13]

Sources

Every source was checked October 2026. We make Glauco, so we are not neutral: if a fact here is wrong or out of date, write to support@glauco.app and we will fix it.

  1. 1.Lens: download, checked October 2026. Used for: what Lens is, platforms it is offered for
  2. 2.Lens: pricing, checked October 2026. Used for: plans and prices, the $10 million rule, plan features (Teamwork, SSO/SCIM, extensions, Ask AI, MCP server)
  3. 3.Lens docs: install Lens K8S IDE, checked October 2026. Used for: supported operating systems, Linux on AMD64 only
  4. 4.Lens: Apple Silicon download (latest-arm64.dmg), checked October 2026. Used for: an Apple Silicon build exists
  5. 5.Lens: Intel Mac download (latest.x86_64.dmg), checked October 2026. Used for: an Intel Mac build exists
  6. 6.Lens docs: FAQ, subscription and licensing, checked October 2026. Used for: all users need a Lens ID to activate, also air-gapped
  7. 7.Lens docs: activate Lens K8S IDE, checked October 2026. Used for: activation at first launch; offline activation for Lens Enterprise subscribers in air-gapped environments
  8. 8.Lens docs: preferences, telemetry, checked October 2026. Used for: telemetry exists and its three switches
  9. 9.GitHub: lensapp/lens (README and licence), checked October 2026. Used for: open-source version retired, legacy code on master, MIT licence
  10. 10.GitHub: lensapp/lens releases, checked October 2026. Used for: latest release v2024.1.300751, 31 January 2024
  11. 11.Lens docs: cluster metrics, checked October 2026. Used for: metrics are based on Prometheus
  12. 12.Lens docs: cluster overview, checked October 2026. Used for: CPU and memory history from one hour to two months
  13. 13.Lens docs: manage Helm charts, checked October 2026. Used for: Helm chart install and upgrade, Helm repositories and OCI registries
  14. 14.Lens docs: Nodes view, checked October 2026. Used for: node shell, cordon and drain
  15. 15.Lens docs: access control views, checked October 2026. Used for: views for service accounts, roles and role bindings
  16. 16.Lens docs: Horizontal Pod Autoscalers view, checked October 2026. Used for: HPA view
  17. 17.Lens docs: Persistent Volumes view, checked October 2026. Used for: PersistentVolume view
  18. 18.Lens docs: Network Policies view, checked October 2026. Used for: NetworkPolicy view
  19. 19.Lens docs: Lens Teamwork, checked October 2026. Used for: team spaces, a premium subscription feature
  20. 20.Lens docs: release notes 2026.10.51501, checked October 2026. Used for: extension marketplace and publishing
  21. 21.Lens docs: release notes 2026.8.270956, checked October 2026. Used for: diff mode in the Advanced editor, a premium feature

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